A Taste of Torah: Weekly Commentary from the JTS Community

This week's commentary was written by Rabbi Matthew Berkowitz, Senior
Rabbinic Fellow

The Hebrew month of Elul offers us an opportunity to repent. It is an auspicious
time granted us each year, during which we can shake off the shackles of our spiritual
apathy and seek an engaging and loving path back to ourselves, our fellow human
beings, and most importantly, God. One of the traditions prescribed to arouse
the feeling of teshuvah, repentance, is the recitation of Psalms. Shmuel
Yosef Agnon, in his classic guide entitled Days of Awe, writes, "there
are many barriers to doing teshuvah. One person may not sufficiently
awake and even one who arouses one's self faces many barriers, for the gates of
teshuvah are shut in the face of many. There are those who do not know
how to do it… But, even if a person is not awake for teshuvah,
he will merit the awakening by the recitation of Psalms, and will open all of
the closed gates and come into the gate of teshuvah." Yet, one's
reading of the Psalms not only has the potential to open the gates of Heaven but
also the gates of our hearts.

The addition of Psalm 27, recited twice daily during the High Holiday season,
is an example of this increased presence of Psalms. Known as "the Psalm for
the Season of Repentance," Psalm 27 is a composition filled with a sense
of overwhelming dread juxtaposed with God's protection, raising an interesting
question and a number of compelling answers.

The psalmist declares, "when evildoers draw near to slander me, when
foes threaten — they stumble and fall. Though armies be arrayed against
me, I have no fear. Though wars threaten, in this do I trust" (Psalm 27:2-3).
Not surprisingly, commentators have sought to explain the latter clause —
one, by suggesting that the psalmist is referring back to the opening of his song:
namely, that "God is my light and help." Many say this means that the
psalmist places his trust squarely in the hands of God. Another interpretation
comes out of the following verse where the psalmist says he seeks "to dwell
in the House of the Lord all the days of his life." Perhaps it is in God's
Abode that the psalmist places his trust? Another possible reading is that it
is the synagogue, or, as Psalm 27 would have it, the Temple, that is the refuge
for our psalmist. Midrash Tehillim 27:4 offers yet another possible interpretation.
It has been suggested that our verse actually refers to Yom Kippur. In this respect,
perhaps the psalmist is referring not to a national war or battle, but to a battle
within himself, "though wars threaten [referring to the perpetual conflict
between one's good and bad inclinations], in this [Yom Kippur] do I trust."

The use of ambiguity in Hebrew verse allows for a multiplicity of interpretations.
So, in seeking to establish what our psalmist places trust in, the answer is perhaps,
all of the above: God, the Temple (or synagogue), and Yom Kippur. All of these
come to play vital roles in our atonement. May each of us make an effort to open
our souls during this season of Elul, to the words of the Psalms, especially Psalm
27. May we each take a moment to reflect on the true meaning of teshuvah.
"We seek to return to God. Return us O Lord to You and we will return; renew
our days as of old," (Lamentations 5:21).

With wishes for a good week and Shabbat shalom,

Rabbi Matthew Berkowitz

The publication and distribution of the JTS KOLLOT: Voices
of Learning commentary has been made possible by a generous gift from Sam and
Marilee Susi.